celebrate 2008

this year we celebrated 2008 with a membership to the carnegie. along with admission for a family of four to the four museums in the city of pittsburgh and to other museums in the country you get to make a donation to the arts...which is nice.  one of the things that i love most about living in pittsburgh is the abundance of art museums and performances and since art doesn't grow on trees someone has to support it and although i'm not a  wealthy woman i try to do my part. i try to buy from  artisans that feature their wares in local shops. i try to buy at least one nice thing at the pittsburgh arts festival every year though it is usually hard to narrow it down to only one and although we have missed some years we try to buy a membership to the carnegie.  i always plan to take the classes that are offered but i rarely find the time though i have taken classes at the museum before and it is really an interesting feeling to be doing tai chi in the basement of a building that houses so many great works of art  but i digress.  when visiting the museum  you never run out of things to see for the first time even when you have seen them a million times before.  it is inspirational. it gives you a good excuse to go into the city and hang out which is never an instinctive thing to do for most of us who live in the suburbs. nowhere else can you surround yourself with and breathe in the vibes of the artists who created the works that you can look at and be overwhelmed by.  we visited the museum early in january this year and spent our time in the hall of dinosaurs thinking that the grandkids would enjoy that the most.  here are a few pics from our day of celebrating the arts...couldn't just pick one.  i love this skeleton of the turtle.  it is beautiful in it's form and quite astonishing in it's size.  i always try to set up a timed group family shot but of course  someone who is required is always late to the frame and someone who is uninvited usually walks into the frame when we are all in position like the shadow on the left of the girl who is about to do just that.  outside the museum is an enormous iron sculpture which invites one to enter into it and look up to the sky as i did or to meditate as others who did not have grandchildren to chase were doing.  there is the gift shop  filled with artist made things that are beautiful to look at on any day even if you are not visiting the museum.  as i said before i like to do my part to support the community and this necklace was hard for me to leave at the shop...as were the tee shirts the youngladygrandaughter and i bought and the necklace she picked out for herself of glass and leather.  see how others celebrate here. 

Comments

[kozy Kitty]

Did you know that Pittsburgh was rated number 1 of the small cities for arts and culture? Living in the DC area, we also have loads of museums, galleries and performance halls. As I start to contemplate places to retire, that is one thing that tops my list!

[michele]

like your new blog look and the new banner photo. the necklace is beautiful. reminds me of red coral and antique asian jewelry.

[Jeremy Stockwell]

Love the 'looking to the sky' photo.